Guthrie Surname Meaning & Statistics

9,544th most common

surname in the world

Approximately 56,603

people bear this surname

Most prevelant in:

Highest density in:

From the barony of the name in Angus. The first of the name recorded is probably the Guthrie sent to France after Sir William Wallace in 1299. In 1348 Adam de Guthrie witnessed a decreet to a burgess of Dundee, Jon of Guthere was juror on the marches of Woodwrae in 1388 (Bamff, p.

Guthrie Surname Meaning

Descriptive Writing for introductory reference

From the barony of the name in Angus. The first of the name recorded is probably the Guthrie sent to France after Sir William Wallace in 1299. In 1348 Adam de Guthrie witnessed a decreet to a burgess of Dundee, Jon of Guthere was juror on the marches of Woodwrae in 1388 (Bamff, p. 22), and Sir David Guthrie of Guthrie was armorbearer to King James III, David Goithry was admitted burgess of Aberdeen in 1460 (NSCM., I, p. 17), John Gothra was tenant in Balmyle in the same year (Cupar-Angus, I, p. 142), William of Guthre was alderman of the burgh of Forfar in 1464 (RAA., II, 159), and James de Guthre de eodem, a charter witness in 1473 (REG., 400). John Guttere, witness in Linlithgow in 1534 (Johnsoun), John Gottraye, burgess of Edinburgh in 1540 (Irvine, I, p. 46), Robert Gotray, witness in Glasgow, 1551 (Protocols, I), and James Gotthra was miller at the mill of Eyemouth in 1581 (Home, 209). John Gotheray had a feu of part of the lands of Kirktoun of Blair in 1584 (Scon, 222). The form Gottray was an old spelling of the name in Prestwick, Ayrshire, John Gobrey was burgess there, 1507 (Prestwick, p. 10), Peter Gotray, burgess of Irwene, 1597 (Inquis. Tut., 1263), John Gottray in Eymouth mylne, 1616 (Inquis., 8541), and John Guttraw confest he committed blood upon Richard Gothraw, his younger brother in 1659 (Stitchill, p. 18). Peter Gotraye was admitted burgess of Clasgow in 1601 (Burgesses), John Coathra is recorded in Broomdykes in 1672, and Adam Goatra in Eist Gordon in 1675 (Lauder). Samuel Guthrie (1782—1848) was one of the original discoverers of chloroform. Although the Guthries of Guthrie were closely connected with the lands belonging to the Abbey of Arnbroath yet no one of the name is found in the first volume of the Register of the Abbey. An old rhyme designating the main line and principal branches of the surname names them:

An estate in Forfarshire, Scotland. This might be considered a tolerably satisfactory origin for the name, especially as the family continue to write themselves ' of that Ilk,' to the present day. Tradition, however, has invented another, which is amusingly absurd; I give it as I find it in Chambers' Popular Rhymes of Scotland:-"One of the kings of Scotland, when on an aquatic excursion to the northern part of his dominions, was overtaken by a storm, and driven ashore on the east coast, somewhere between Arbroath and Montrose. Getting in safety to land, the king, like the pious AEneas, under similar circumstances, turned his thoughts upon the means of acquiring food wherewith to satisfy his own hunger and that of his attendants, both considerably sharpened by the sea breeze. He had not, however, the good fortune of the Trojan hero in seeing —

Guthrie Reference & Research

Footnotes

Description: Descriptions are largely reproduced from 3rd party sources; diligence is advised on accepting their validity

Incidence: The approximate number of people in a given area who bear the surname

Frequency: The percentage of people in a given area that bear the surname

Rank: Surnames are ranked by incidence using the dense ranking method; the surname that occurs the most is assigned a rank of 1; surnames that occur less frequently receive an incremented rank; if two or more surnames occur the same number of times they are assigned the same rank and preceding rank is incremented by 1

Similar: Surnames listed in the 'Similar Surnames' section are phonetically similar and may not have any relation to Guthrie